WEBVTT 00:00:00.220 --> 00:00:05.060 Well, thank you so much, Sabina. Thank you so much, everyone, for being here. It's a joy to welcome you to church this morning. 00:00:05.719 --> 00:00:12.140 To what is, honestly, this is just the best day ever. We just celebrate the glorious news that Jesus is alive. 00:00:12.240 --> 00:00:18.920 My name is Graham, the minister here at the church, and it's just so good to welcome you this morning. 00:00:19.179 --> 00:00:24.640 Lesser known fact about me. I'm quarter English. Don't judge me. 00:00:25.699 --> 00:00:29.400 Quarter is the key term there, quarter English. But you know why I'm quarter English? 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:34.439 Because my gran was from this little place in northwest London called Finchley. 00:00:35.020 --> 00:00:39.219 Has anyone ever been to Finchley? A few people? She was from Finchley. 00:00:39.480 --> 00:00:46.579 I remember going up with my brother, and as well as her talking about going up apples and pears and the fact that we were in Barney Rubble, 00:00:47.120 --> 00:00:52.560 she used to sing to us. And this is one of the songs that she used to sing to us. 00:00:52.600 --> 00:00:55.120 Now, don't leave me dying on the stage here as I try and sing this, okay? 00:00:55.600 --> 00:00:57.299 I even put the words on the screen for you. 00:00:57.299 --> 00:01:01.739 I'm forever blowing bubbles. 00:01:02.320 --> 00:01:05.379 Pretty bubbles in the air. 00:01:05.979 --> 00:01:08.399 They fly so high. 00:01:08.939 --> 00:01:10.899 They reach the sky. 00:01:11.459 --> 00:01:13.379 Then like my dreams, 00:01:13.679 --> 00:01:15.739 they fade and die. 00:01:16.439 --> 00:01:19.280 Fortune's always hiding. 00:01:19.280 --> 00:01:23.439 I've looked everywhere. 00:01:24.799 --> 00:01:27.859 I'm forever blowing bubbles. 00:01:28.460 --> 00:01:31.920 Pretty bubbles in the air. 00:01:31.920 --> 00:01:35.280 I kind of wait to listen to that back in the recording and see what it sounds like. 00:01:35.280 --> 00:01:42.920 But I've found subsequently since those days of my gran that this is an extremely popular song. 00:01:43.379 --> 00:01:43.939 We heard it? 00:01:44.799 --> 00:01:47.540 And I think there's a reason why it's an extremely popular song. 00:01:47.599 --> 00:01:54.200 Because it taps into an experience that we all know to be true as human beings, doesn't it? 00:01:54.200 --> 00:01:58.939 Things in life that come our way that we've got really high hopes for. 00:01:59.859 --> 00:02:02.240 And in an instant, they're burst. 00:02:03.439 --> 00:02:05.200 Aren't they? They're just bubbles. They're burst. 00:02:05.379 --> 00:02:11.120 Well, in our story this morning, we're going to eavesdrop in on two men who are making a journey. 00:02:11.120 --> 00:02:17.159 It's a seven-mile journey from Jerusalem back west to Emmaus. 00:02:17.259 --> 00:02:19.340 Now, I don't know about you when you go on a journey, 00:02:19.719 --> 00:02:22.240 but I like to have music for my journey. 00:02:22.900 --> 00:02:24.920 It kind of sets the mood for where we're going. 00:02:25.000 --> 00:02:27.219 In our previous life, it was all about snow patrol. 00:02:27.360 --> 00:02:29.400 Now with two little girls, it's a lot more snow white. 00:02:31.180 --> 00:02:34.460 But I like to have music that captures the mood for our journey. 00:02:34.540 --> 00:02:35.840 So here's the question I want you to think about. 00:02:35.920 --> 00:02:37.939 What is the music that captures the mood of this journey? 00:02:37.939 --> 00:02:43.500 What are Cleopas and his friends singing as they walk and they talk? 00:02:43.659 --> 00:02:52.180 Well, surely, having seen the biggest bubble ever explode in the most spectacular of ways, 00:02:53.180 --> 00:02:54.319 surely they're singing bubbles. 00:02:56.419 --> 00:03:01.340 You see, the despair centers around a king that they thought they had. 00:03:02.020 --> 00:03:05.979 Now, if you've got your Bibles here, turn with me back to that passage in Luke 24, 00:03:05.979 --> 00:03:12.879 and let's walk with these men and let's hear what they're saying as they journey towards Emmaus. 00:03:15.839 --> 00:03:22.319 This man, Jesus, verse 19, hear what they're saying about him. 00:03:23.620 --> 00:03:24.620 He was a prophet. 00:03:24.620 --> 00:03:35.719 And he was powerful in word and deed before God and all of the watching people. 00:03:35.840 --> 00:03:37.120 We saw this man. 00:03:38.259 --> 00:03:39.560 And we loved this man. 00:03:40.099 --> 00:03:46.480 And we staked all, everything about our lives, we staked it on this man. 00:03:46.479 --> 00:03:53.419 And the thing is, that for so long, this was looking so good. 00:03:55.459 --> 00:03:57.959 Jesus, he was, we saw him, we heard him do it. 00:03:57.979 --> 00:03:59.500 He was outsmarting the smartest. 00:03:59.699 --> 00:04:01.379 He was dumbfounding the critics. 00:04:01.719 --> 00:04:04.219 His teaching was like that we'd never heard before. 00:04:04.479 --> 00:04:07.359 And the miracles that he was doing, we didn't even know how he was doing it. 00:04:07.419 --> 00:04:08.419 Left, right and center. 00:04:08.419 --> 00:04:15.459 And we followed him all the way to Jerusalem because we thought that this was it. 00:04:17.159 --> 00:04:24.319 This was the moment when Jesus would be seated in front of all those people who for years mocked him and doubted him. 00:04:24.519 --> 00:04:27.639 He would be seen to be Israel's mighty king. 00:04:28.579 --> 00:04:31.919 The king that God had promised that he would send us. 00:04:32.500 --> 00:04:36.620 He would defeat all of our enemies and would rule for us. 00:04:36.620 --> 00:04:37.579 We thought this was Jesus. 00:04:39.199 --> 00:04:45.360 But it turns out Jesus' fate was just like every other human being. 00:04:45.819 --> 00:04:46.639 And how are we feeling? 00:04:46.720 --> 00:04:48.300 We're absolutely gutted. 00:04:49.379 --> 00:04:52.120 Because Jesus was just another bubble. 00:04:54.120 --> 00:04:56.120 An impressive bubble will give you that. 00:04:56.879 --> 00:04:58.639 A nice bubble, a wise bubble. 00:04:58.639 --> 00:05:00.800 But he was just a bubble. 00:05:01.399 --> 00:05:04.079 Like everything and everything else. 00:05:05.199 --> 00:05:11.259 Except that he was burst in the most public, humiliating and gruesome of ways. 00:05:11.519 --> 00:05:12.979 Do you want to know the saddest part of this? 00:05:14.319 --> 00:05:18.620 Is it some of our women that they got up early and went to the tomb on Sunday morning. 00:05:18.699 --> 00:05:19.899 We call them the Spice Girls. 00:05:20.680 --> 00:05:23.879 And they're trying to tell us that this tomb was empty. 00:05:23.879 --> 00:05:26.079 And they're trying to tell us that there was an angel. 00:05:26.240 --> 00:05:29.839 Two angels in fact that spoke to them and told them that he is alive. 00:05:31.159 --> 00:05:33.139 But do you see what they thought of that in those verses? 00:05:36.120 --> 00:05:37.899 Please can we stop all this nonsense now. 00:05:39.279 --> 00:05:40.540 And let's all just go home. 00:05:41.279 --> 00:05:42.699 And let's all just get on with life. 00:05:42.699 --> 00:05:46.819 Verse 17 tells us that Cleopas and his friend are downcast. 00:05:49.100 --> 00:05:49.600 Gutted. 00:05:50.379 --> 00:05:50.939 Crushed. 00:05:50.939 --> 00:05:53.740 Because life is just back to what it always was. 00:05:54.680 --> 00:05:55.199 Forecast. 00:05:56.019 --> 00:05:56.500 Short. 00:05:57.360 --> 00:05:58.480 Times of heavy rain. 00:05:59.060 --> 00:06:00.060 Occasional clouds. 00:06:00.500 --> 00:06:01.639 Fleeting moments of sunshine. 00:06:01.800 --> 00:06:03.180 But it will be gone before you know it. 00:06:04.740 --> 00:06:06.860 We're forever blowing bubbles. 00:06:07.480 --> 00:06:12.519 Let me ask you, what is the song that captures your outlook on life this morning? 00:06:14.379 --> 00:06:15.379 What is the song? 00:06:16.220 --> 00:06:18.540 In your heart of hearts, what are you singing? 00:06:18.540 --> 00:06:21.060 Is it like the lyrics to that John Lennon song? 00:06:22.560 --> 00:06:22.960 Imagine. 00:06:23.220 --> 00:06:27.120 You know the one that they sang at the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics? 00:06:27.340 --> 00:06:30.080 The one that said, imagine that there's no nations as the nations paraded around. 00:06:30.160 --> 00:06:30.640 I love that. 00:06:32.040 --> 00:06:32.520 John Lennon. 00:06:32.600 --> 00:06:33.100 What does it say? 00:06:33.160 --> 00:06:34.220 Imagine there's no heaven. 00:06:35.780 --> 00:06:36.960 It's easy if you try. 00:06:37.100 --> 00:06:38.100 No hell below us. 00:06:38.220 --> 00:06:39.560 Above us, only sky. 00:06:40.840 --> 00:06:44.759 Imagine all the people living for today. 00:06:44.759 --> 00:06:48.339 Living for today. 00:06:50.219 --> 00:06:51.599 Getting into the right school. 00:06:52.620 --> 00:06:53.899 Getting the right grades. 00:06:54.639 --> 00:06:55.599 Getting the right degree. 00:06:56.360 --> 00:06:57.319 Getting the dream job. 00:06:58.019 --> 00:06:58.599 Getting married. 00:06:59.300 --> 00:07:00.079 Getting the house. 00:07:00.579 --> 00:07:01.459 Getting more cash. 00:07:01.920 --> 00:07:02.620 Getting the kids. 00:07:02.920 --> 00:07:04.420 So that they can go to the right school. 00:07:04.680 --> 00:07:05.860 And they can get the right grades. 00:07:06.039 --> 00:07:07.139 And they can get the right degree. 00:07:07.360 --> 00:07:08.519 And they can get the right job. 00:07:08.920 --> 00:07:10.420 On and on it goes. 00:07:11.620 --> 00:07:12.120 Is this it? 00:07:12.120 --> 00:07:15.439 Is there more to life than this? 00:07:16.959 --> 00:07:19.660 My favorite actor growing up was a man called Jim Carrey. 00:07:21.379 --> 00:07:22.680 Loved Jim Carrey films. 00:07:23.480 --> 00:07:25.840 This is what he said as you look back on his life. 00:07:27.139 --> 00:07:29.220 I think everybody should get rich and famous. 00:07:30.120 --> 00:07:31.879 And do everything that they ever dreamed of. 00:07:31.939 --> 00:07:34.939 So that they can see that it's not the answer. 00:07:36.259 --> 00:07:36.840 Jim Carrey. 00:07:38.040 --> 00:07:41.280 One of the most celebrated actors of our generation. 00:07:42.560 --> 00:07:45.560 What's the song that captures your outlook on life this morning? 00:07:47.759 --> 00:07:49.840 Cleopas and his friend are on this road to the maus. 00:07:49.959 --> 00:07:50.840 They're singing bubbles. 00:07:51.040 --> 00:07:52.040 But verse 15. 00:07:52.199 --> 00:07:53.420 They're not alone on the journey. 00:07:55.040 --> 00:07:55.379 Jesus. 00:07:56.480 --> 00:07:58.079 Is walking alongside them. 00:07:59.160 --> 00:08:02.139 And he hears Cleopas and his friend's despair. 00:08:02.280 --> 00:08:05.000 They tell him about a king they thought they had. 00:08:05.000 --> 00:08:09.680 And he responds by telling them about a book that they thought they'd read. 00:08:10.920 --> 00:08:12.220 I love this. 00:08:12.339 --> 00:08:12.459 Right? 00:08:12.540 --> 00:08:12.959 Picture this. 00:08:13.019 --> 00:08:18.220 They tell Jesus about this man called Jesus who was crucified. 00:08:18.220 --> 00:08:23.080 And Jesus as he hears two men tell him about himself. 00:08:24.340 --> 00:08:24.700 Responds. 00:08:24.780 --> 00:08:25.680 Of course he was. 00:08:26.100 --> 00:08:26.860 Look what he says. 00:08:26.940 --> 00:08:27.720 Verse 26. 00:08:28.200 --> 00:08:31.280 They thought the Messiah have to suffer these things. 00:08:32.279 --> 00:08:33.180 Don't you get it? 00:08:33.200 --> 00:08:33.759 Says Jesus. 00:08:33.879 --> 00:08:36.399 Boys what you've witnessed is not the derailing of the plan. 00:08:37.179 --> 00:08:40.720 What you've witnessed is the very fulfillment of the plan. 00:08:42.439 --> 00:08:43.600 And so I wonder if you're here this morning. 00:08:43.699 --> 00:08:44.959 What do you think the Bible is? 00:08:46.439 --> 00:08:47.439 What do you think it is? 00:08:48.360 --> 00:08:51.860 Is it a religious self-help manual? 00:08:53.480 --> 00:08:56.039 Is it a dated moral book? 00:08:56.759 --> 00:08:57.340 I'll be honest with you. 00:08:57.379 --> 00:08:59.759 That's what I used to think it was before I became a Christian. 00:09:00.759 --> 00:09:01.699 Did you think it was those things? 00:09:01.740 --> 00:09:03.039 I treated it like a magic eight ball. 00:09:03.039 --> 00:09:04.960 You kind of shook it and opened it and see what came. 00:09:06.399 --> 00:09:09.159 The Bible is at its very essence. 00:09:09.319 --> 00:09:09.919 It's a story. 00:09:11.079 --> 00:09:15.319 It's a story about a great God who created us. 00:09:15.980 --> 00:09:18.659 A great God who created us in his image. 00:09:19.600 --> 00:09:23.679 But we through our first parents, Adam and Eve, we rebelled against him. 00:09:24.840 --> 00:09:28.639 The sin disease entered the human race. 00:09:29.220 --> 00:09:34.439 I remember growing up a really easy way that my Sunday school teacher taught me how to know what sin is. 00:09:34.440 --> 00:09:36.920 He says, sorry God, I'm in charge. 00:09:37.140 --> 00:09:37.940 No to your rules. 00:09:38.860 --> 00:09:40.200 Sorry God, I'm in charge. 00:09:40.760 --> 00:09:41.680 No to your rules. 00:09:43.080 --> 00:09:43.880 Sin's a big deal. 00:09:44.940 --> 00:09:45.700 It's a big deal. 00:09:45.760 --> 00:09:47.300 We rebelled against this God. 00:09:47.480 --> 00:09:48.340 This God who loves us. 00:09:48.400 --> 00:09:49.260 This God who made us. 00:09:49.320 --> 00:09:50.660 That we slap stuff in his face. 00:09:50.800 --> 00:09:51.540 Sin is a big deal. 00:09:51.860 --> 00:09:55.040 And sin is so big that it separated us from this great God. 00:09:55.039 --> 00:09:58.519 And to save us. 00:09:59.240 --> 00:10:00.719 Because he loves us. 00:10:01.379 --> 00:10:04.059 And to demonstrate to the world how great he is. 00:10:04.179 --> 00:10:10.599 God initiated the wisest plot to the greatest story in all of human history. 00:10:11.599 --> 00:10:18.139 He sent his son to live and to die in our place. 00:10:18.139 --> 00:10:23.960 So that a way could be opened up for us to come to know him. 00:10:25.860 --> 00:10:32.059 Friends, God didn't give us his word, the Bible, to answer every one of our questions. 00:10:32.139 --> 00:10:33.439 That was not his primary purpose. 00:10:34.159 --> 00:10:38.860 He gave us it primarily to show us the solution to our biggest problem. 00:10:39.699 --> 00:10:44.139 And our biggest problem is that we are separated from the God who made us. 00:10:44.139 --> 00:10:47.399 And let me tell you that it's a far greater deal than we think it is. 00:10:50.120 --> 00:10:51.240 But back to the story. 00:10:51.539 --> 00:10:55.620 Do you not find it really interesting that Jesus hasn't revealed his true identity to these two men yet? 00:10:57.419 --> 00:10:59.580 They see him but they don't really see him. 00:10:59.679 --> 00:11:00.120 That's fascinating. 00:11:00.419 --> 00:11:01.379 It's not really interesting. 00:11:01.460 --> 00:11:02.799 I want to know why he's doing that. 00:11:03.500 --> 00:11:04.960 If I were Jesus, what I would have done? 00:11:05.259 --> 00:11:06.919 I would have jumped out from behind a bush. 00:11:07.000 --> 00:11:10.539 I would have bought one of those massive novelty candles and popped it up with my scars and said, 00:11:10.620 --> 00:11:11.340 Here I am. 00:11:12.899 --> 00:11:13.960 He's not doing that. 00:11:14.139 --> 00:11:16.460 Why is he doing it this way? 00:11:17.919 --> 00:11:20.500 Surely it's because he wants them to understand the story. 00:11:21.679 --> 00:11:32.220 To understand that central to God's story is this Messiah hero who would be the lamb that dies to buy back his people. 00:11:33.080 --> 00:11:36.259 And he would be the lion that roars. 00:11:36.259 --> 00:11:44.419 As God exalts him, raises him from the grave, declares him to the watching world that that is my king. 00:11:44.419 --> 00:11:47.479 And he's seated on his throne. 00:11:47.479 --> 00:11:48.819 And he is risen from the grave. 00:11:49.039 --> 00:11:51.339 This is my king, says God to the world. 00:11:52.860 --> 00:11:58.659 And it's a story that will culminate in this king returning as heaven's champion to make all things new. 00:11:59.539 --> 00:12:01.219 To put all wrongs to right. 00:12:01.220 --> 00:12:08.920 You see, death will not be the end of the story for those who have repented of their sin and who trust Jesus Christ as their Lord, Savior and King. 00:12:09.259 --> 00:12:09.540 Why? 00:12:10.440 --> 00:12:12.600 Because it wasn't the end of the story for Jesus. 00:12:12.600 --> 00:12:15.120 It's incredible, isn't it? 00:12:15.120 --> 00:12:25.080 As you hear stories of Christians like we're hearing five, ten minutes ago about John Campbell, Frank Reed, people who trusted in Jesus. 00:12:25.800 --> 00:12:27.019 Death is not the end for them. 00:12:28.360 --> 00:12:29.980 It is the pain that they were going through. 00:12:30.060 --> 00:12:30.700 Hey, guess what? 00:12:30.759 --> 00:12:32.220 There's a resurrection body coming. 00:12:33.480 --> 00:12:34.440 This is our king. 00:12:34.740 --> 00:12:35.600 This is the story. 00:12:35.740 --> 00:12:36.860 This is what God has done. 00:12:36.860 --> 00:12:47.340 And isn't understanding the story going to be so important for these men when one day soon they will not be able to physically see Jesus anymore because he will have ascended into heaven. 00:12:49.259 --> 00:12:51.039 That's where we are in the story this morning. 00:12:52.220 --> 00:12:54.379 And that's why this is recorded for us. 00:12:54.480 --> 00:12:58.980 So we can see and trust these eyewitness sightings of the risen Jesus. 00:12:59.080 --> 00:13:05.480 Not just one, not just ten, but Paul would tell us 1 Corinthians 15, you can check it out later, to over 500 at one time. 00:13:05.480 --> 00:13:06.740 This stands up. 00:13:07.940 --> 00:13:12.080 As one writer puts it, that is evidence that demands a verdict. 00:13:13.000 --> 00:13:18.259 So that when we can't physically see Jesus, we too can trust him. 00:13:18.860 --> 00:13:25.560 Because we know that he is risen and that we know where we are in God's great story. 00:13:27.060 --> 00:13:32.879 And so from explaining a book that they thought they'd read, suddenly they see the true identity of a man that they thought they knew. 00:13:33.220 --> 00:13:34.480 During this meal, what happens? 00:13:34.480 --> 00:13:37.340 Their eyes are opened and they see that it's Jesus. 00:13:37.519 --> 00:13:38.519 What do they say to each other? 00:13:38.600 --> 00:13:39.259 Verse 32. 00:13:40.720 --> 00:13:42.740 Feel the fire of this verse. 00:13:44.019 --> 00:13:46.840 Didn't our hearts burn within us? 00:13:47.639 --> 00:13:49.820 As he opened the scriptures to us. 00:13:50.220 --> 00:13:51.180 We felt it. 00:13:51.259 --> 00:13:54.500 We knew it was true that God's king really is risen. 00:13:54.940 --> 00:13:57.620 That life as we know it, everything has changed. 00:13:57.620 --> 00:14:09.740 And so having discovered the true identity of a man they thought they knew, they find themselves finally making a trip they never in a million years thought that they'd make. 00:14:09.740 --> 00:14:13.159 I don't think Jerusalem had a train station back in those days. 00:14:13.220 --> 00:14:14.340 I'm pretty certain of that one. 00:14:14.340 --> 00:14:19.700 But if it did, you can imagine these two men at the beginning of this chapter. 00:14:19.800 --> 00:14:21.620 They have bought a one-way ticket out of there. 00:14:21.620 --> 00:14:25.440 What we see in verse 33. 00:14:26.440 --> 00:14:27.960 They cannot get back soon enough. 00:14:28.060 --> 00:14:30.200 As soon as they find out this news about Jesus. 00:14:31.120 --> 00:14:37.500 Because the news that Jesus has risen has transformed these two individuals' lives. 00:14:38.060 --> 00:14:39.480 Their hope has been reignited. 00:14:39.899 --> 00:14:41.820 Life as they know it flipped on its head. 00:14:42.200 --> 00:14:43.940 Where there was no hope, now there's hope. 00:14:44.039 --> 00:14:45.840 Where there was no purpose, now there's purpose. 00:14:45.960 --> 00:14:48.279 Where there was no life, now there is life. 00:14:48.279 --> 00:14:52.059 And where did they go as soon as they get back to Jerusalem? 00:14:53.220 --> 00:14:54.799 Straight for their fellow believers. 00:14:55.879 --> 00:14:56.259 Why? 00:14:56.879 --> 00:14:59.559 Because it turns out the Spice Girls were right. 00:15:01.240 --> 00:15:05.360 So you can imagine that they screamed the verses, the verse, sorry, verse 34. 00:15:05.959 --> 00:15:09.720 They screamed it to their fellow believers that sum this all up, verse 34. 00:15:10.620 --> 00:15:11.740 It is true. 00:15:13.039 --> 00:15:14.199 It is true. 00:15:14.699 --> 00:15:16.740 He has risen. 00:15:18.279 --> 00:15:19.519 And that changes everything. 00:15:20.879 --> 00:15:23.639 Here's the question for you this morning as we work towards the close. 00:15:23.740 --> 00:15:24.600 Do you believe it's true? 00:15:26.240 --> 00:15:27.519 Do you believe it's true? 00:15:29.039 --> 00:15:31.000 That this man Jesus is alive. 00:15:32.039 --> 00:15:33.939 That the grave could not hold him. 00:15:33.980 --> 00:15:37.659 That the greatest story ever told is true. 00:15:37.659 --> 00:15:40.259 And here's the best bit. 00:15:41.259 --> 00:15:49.000 We're not invited to grab the popcorn, recline in the lazy boy, and turn on the TV as we watch this story. 00:15:49.139 --> 00:15:49.819 We are invited. 00:15:50.000 --> 00:15:53.879 God himself invites us through his word this morning to come and be part of this story. 00:15:53.879 --> 00:15:56.659 Jesus, Easter's champion. 00:15:56.659 --> 00:16:04.939 The one who holds the keys of death and life holds them out to you this morning and says, come and receive forgiveness. 00:16:05.620 --> 00:16:08.939 Come and receive life to the full. 00:16:08.940 --> 00:16:14.000 So what song are you singing now, Cleopas and friend? 00:16:14.920 --> 00:16:16.040 Are you still singing bubbles? 00:16:16.840 --> 00:16:17.280 Oh no. 00:16:18.060 --> 00:16:18.840 Oh no. 00:16:18.940 --> 00:16:19.900 What are you singing now? 00:16:19.899 --> 00:16:24.679 Lo, Jesus meets us, risen from the tomb. 00:16:25.559 --> 00:16:29.600 Lovingly he greets us, scatters fears and gloom. 00:16:29.939 --> 00:16:34.360 Let the church with gladness, hymns of triumph sing. 00:16:34.459 --> 00:16:36.899 For her Lord now liveth. 00:16:37.720 --> 00:16:40.039 Death hath lost its sting. 00:16:41.100 --> 00:16:44.159 Thine be the glory, risen conquering Son. 00:16:44.159 --> 00:16:50.199 Endless is the victory thou or death hast won. 00:16:50.500 --> 00:16:51.399 Let me pray. 00:16:54.240 --> 00:17:05.559 God, we thank you for this morning and the glorious news that we celebrate today that Jesus is not dead, but he is alive. 00:17:05.559 --> 00:17:21.220 Oh, would you help each one of us this morning, dear Father, as we respond to this message, to understand your story and to understand that that day changes our every day. 00:17:21.779 --> 00:17:25.079 That because Jesus lives, we can face tomorrow. 00:17:25.079 --> 00:17:36.939 And that because Jesus lives, all fear is gone because we know that he holds the future and life is worth the living just because he lives. 00:17:37.119 --> 00:17:39.619 Thank you so much, dear Father, that you love us. 00:17:40.059 --> 00:17:42.119 And we pray all these things in Jesus' name. 00:17:42.579 --> 00:17:42.899 Amen.